


Pupulus

by Umbreonic



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Ending, Based on Bad End 3 of Ray's Route, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Gen, Mint Eye, Multi, Savior Saeran, Spoilers, To be continued...?, Warning: She's Not a Nice MC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-19
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-21 01:17:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13730040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umbreonic/pseuds/Umbreonic
Summary: "I got up from my seat by the side, putting the holy book I'd been pretending to read on the empty chair, before I walked over to him. I knew he was watching me, that his eyes flickered over to me often during ceremonies like this. It was a compliment, really, that even after gaining such power and prestige, I still held such sway over his gaze, over his thoughts, but really, that was always what I wanted from him."Warning: Spoilers for Ray's Route/Third Bad End.





	Pupulus

“For eternal paradise!” The group of believers bowed before the Savior, hands together and raised above their heads, to show eternal gratitude and loyalty towards him. It's a gesture I've seen many times before, the standard show of respect before the Savior by the end of a gathering before him.

The Savior sat alone on his throne, watching the group before him, his face impassive, his white-pink hair neatly combed into place. He nodded once, his green eyes closed briefly before opening them. “For eternal paradise.” He repeated back. “You may take your leave.” He waved his hand slightly to dismiss them before returning to its' resting place on his chair.

The believers bowed once more before filing out of the throne room.

I got up from my seat by the side, putting the holy book I'd been pretending to read on the empty chair, before I walked over to him. I knew he was watching me, that his eyes flickered over to me often during ceremonies like this. It was a compliment, really, that even after gaining such power and prestige, I still held such sway over his gaze, over his thoughts, but really, that was always what I wanted from him.

I stood before his throne, and took his hand with great care, stroking my thumb just above his knuckles. I could see his stiff shoulders slump and relax while he let out a slow, deep breath. This was all so terribly stressful for him, and to a degree I sympathised, but only to a point. He wasn't a natural leader after all, not like his predecessor, but he showed far more promise than I or his predecessor even predicted. Yet, he still lacked confidence, and fear still reigned deep within him, but considering what I knew of his past, I knew it'd take a long time to unlearn it completely, if at all.

But that was why he needed both me and Rika by his side. We were the strings that held him up high whenever he felt the urge to fall and lie on the ground. In return, he was the rallying point, the golden shield, the ideal believer-turned-Savior that everyone within the Mint Eye looked up to.

For now, he just needed this brief comfort. Those stunning green eyes met mine, and up close I could see dark bags under his eyes. He worked tirelessly before as Mint Eye's intelligence agent and hacker, and as the Savior he was no different.

I gave him a smile, my free hand reaching out to stroke his hair. It was thicker and softer to the touch than it looked, and the gesture always made him close his eyes, like he was soaking up the feeling of my fingers caressing the strands.

“Was I good...?” His voice was just above a whisper.

My smile grew to a grin, and I kissed his forehead. I could hear a faint gasp escape his lips. It was so cute how he reacted to such silly gestures... even at his most belligerent, this was all child's play. For all his mercurial ways, his needs were far more simple and predictable than he'd ever admit to himself. Those needs and how I satisfied them — all while winding my fingers around his puppet strings — was how Rika got so interested in me in the first place.

“Of course,” I answered, keeping my voice light and cheerful. This one liked me much more whenever I played the Pollyanna. “You did wonderfully today, Ray.”

His cheeks were pink as he gave me a shy smile. “I'm glad...” He leaned close, kissing me on the lips. It was brief, but for Ray this was brave. He'd probably been inspired by what Saeran did to me whenever he was here. Even with such a timid personality, he didn't want to be completely outdone by him, not unless he wanted to feel even more worthless than he already did.

“Come on,” I helped him stand up, my fingers entwined with his, and the two of us walked around the throne, through a door camouflaged by made our way to the Savior's quarters in silence.

Every time I glanced in his direction, I could feel those eyes watching me. I wonder if his eyes ever got tired of looking at me. Perhaps not, if I was the first girl from the outside to catch his eye like Rika claimed. It was almost cute, really.

It didn't take long to reach the black double-doors. It wasn't long ago when these doors were for Rika's personal quarters, but after her decision to “retire”, he made use of them instead. While she picked another room within Magenta to claim as her own, I ended up gaining these quarters as my own too. Neither Ray nor Saeran liked having me too far away from him, after all, and he slept much better cuddled up with me than he did otherwise. To me, it was just another private victory, another step closer into his space until my desires, my needs entwined with his so deeply that he couldn't pull away.

Today, however, Ray would have to wait. I had a special late-night plan for tonight. I let go of his hand, shaking my head. His eyes widened in alarm, but he didn't reach to grab me again. Good.

“Sorry Ray, but I promised Rika I'd have tea with her before bed. Don't you worry about me, and just rest up for tomorrow, okay? I'll join you soon.” I beamed.

I could see his shoulders slump in disappointment, but he knew better than to protest. “I... understand.” He sighed. “Good night.”

I already knew what I'd have to do to make him happy and compliant again, so his sad spell didn't faze me. I blew a kiss and waved at him.

He waved back, his eyes lighting up for a brief moment, before he exited through the black double doors.

I waited until the doors closed before breathing out, dropping my smile. He'd be so much more bearable if he didn't need me to act like such a soft girl.

But then, he wouldn't like me much if he knew the truth, would he? Nobody liked the real me... well, nobody except for one person.

I turned my heel and walked away from the double doors, down the hall and around the corner to a flight of stairs. She'd understand, of course, if I was a little late, but I never liked being late for anything.

As I walked down flight after flight of stairs to the ground level of Magenta, not one believer I passed on my way noticed my presence. This meant the plan was working, that I was a shadow even when walking the halls in my believer robes. But then, I knew this would work, because being a shadow is my greatest talent and also my life's story.

My family was pretty ordinary by society's standards. My father worked in a bank, my mother an office, and they had three daughters. Naturally, I was the second-born, too unimportant to be first or last, and this theme carried throughout my childhood. I wasn't a slacker, but I was never the overachiever my elder sister was, nor was I the delicate beauty like my younger sister. Average grades, average looks, just another face in the crowd as far as school was concerned.

School, however, had far more to offer me than just academic education. Within those grey walls, I'd learned something far more useful — the power of words, the power of people.

I learned that having such a dull reputation was actually to my benefit, that all I needed to do was drop a few words in the right ear at the right time, and I'd watch those prettier and smarter than me tear each other to pieces, while I sat hidden away with a textbook, watching from a distance. For all their merits, they were all equally gullible. One even dumped her boyfriend just because I insinuated he was going to break up with her soon, even though I knew full well that boy was besotted.

It was funny, really, but it didn't solve a much greater problem of mine that loomed over the horizon — my future. With my grades, and without plastic surgery, I was doomed to be stuck in the same thankless jobs my parents had. Once more, I'd be another face in the crowd, a dull face among many. So instead I got working, doing part-time jobs and selling shit online to earn money for plastic surgery. At the very least, I could handle the festering world that was idol culture, far better than my idiotic younger sister.

And then I heard about this opportunity, of a gaming company looking for testers. I knew it was too good to be true, but in hindsight something drew me to this. Perhaps it was a desire for something interesting in my life, or perhaps I somehow knew that this was the path for me, like this was fate? It didn't really matter. By the time I wore that blindfold and got into that car, I knew this wasn't really a gaming company, that something far more interesting was behind this, but I did it all the same. In hindsight, that was foolish — for all I knew, I could've signed up to be a prostitute against my will — but I felt confident enough at the time that this wasn't the case.

What I hadn't expected was to be welcomed into the bosom of Mint Eye. At first, all I did was “play the RFA chatroom game”, chatting with the so-called AIs while charming the apparent programmer of the chatroom, Ray. The latter part was far easier than even I predicted, but then I knew nothing of his psychological issues and traumas at the time.

By the fifth day, I'd gained Ray's trust, enough that he decided I didn't need that mysterious elixir that everyone else drank, including himself. Such a sweet boy, he'd worried that the drink would hurt me, and he couldn't bear to see me in pain.

He didn't know that the elixir wouldn't really work on me anyway. Rika was right, I didn't have the scars that Saeran or even herself had, no underlying traumas or disorders, the elixir wouldn't awaken anything or clear my sight. My eyes were already clear and free of the veil society wanted to wrap around them, free of the fears that plagued poor, weak souls like Ray.

Yes, fear... that was Ray and Saeran in a nutshell. Both personalities were just different fear responses. Ray was a rabbit, trembling and ready to run back into its hole, while Saeran was a lion pacing in its cage, watching its surroundings with a paranoid glare. Both love and fear me in their own special ways. Ray looked out for me and needed comfort and assurance, while Saeran wanted to dominate and control me. It's just a matter of figuring whether or not I needed to be the angel or the victim today.

It's why, as much as I love his beautiful, almost feminine looks, his fragility and ferocity, his innocence and his devil, that I can't truly be myself around Ray or Saeran, that I can't truly love them the way both desperately want me to. But that's okay, neither would ever know the difference, and besides, there was at least one person who knew the real me and embraced her.

I went down one more hallway and found the door that led outside. I entered through the door and into the garden, the place where Ray and I had our first kiss. I followed the path as I'd done many times before, through the rose bushes and past the begonias until I reached the corner, our corner. All that was there was just a glass table and chairs, but it was the gathering place that Rika and I preferred.

But tonight, we weren't alone. A woman in a doctor's coat with grey hair pulled into a bun, wire-rimmed spectacles and wrinkles sat at the glass table on Rika's right, giving me a knowing smile as soon as she spotted me. A doctor's coat... I knew who she was now: Dr. Kim, the creator behind the elixir. In a sense, she was also an invisible queen here, though in a more distant sense than either me or Rika. Regardless, she was a powerful ally that Rika had acquired years ago, and her presence here signalled that both she and the former Savior trusted me proper.

My eyes found Rika's green ones. God, she was more beautiful every time I looked at her, with golden curls and a doll's face. It was hard to believe that she was older than me, but then, she had a sort of agelessness about her. I'd have to wait until I'd get a chance to kiss her pretty lips tonight — Dr. Kim meant tonight was about business, not pleasure.

“Welcome, Seulgi.” Rika smiled, gesturing to the empty chair on her left. “Thank you so much for coming tonight. We've got much to talk about.”

“Thank you, Rika, and you, Dr. Kim.” I smiled back, the expression easier now than it was earlier as I sat down on the offered chair.

Rika nodded her head once, her eyes closing briefly before opening again, her eyes meeting mine. “Now, we can truly begin. For eternal paradise.” I could see that shadow within those bright eyes, the devil lurking within, and I could tell by how her mouth twitched upright that she could see mine too.

“For eternal paradise.” I repeated.

*

**Author's Note:**

> This whole thing came about because I wanted to write an MC based on what Rika said during the third bad end — specifically, the part where she mentions that how the MC doesn't have a past like hers — as well as what sort of MC would take that end in the first place. In a way, I wrote this more as a character study for my MC Seulgi than anything else.
> 
> I might continue this as a proper multi-chapter story, though I'd need a solid plot instead of the patchwork of ideas that I've got right now. Ideally, something where I can switch perspectives for chapters, but the only issue is that I'd want to do a Rika perspective as well as a Saeran and Seulgi perspective, and I feel like I need to know more about how Rika thinks and feels and wants before approaching it. If anyone's got any tips/insight, feel free to let me know. 
> 
> For now, thank you so much for reading! Please leave a comment with your thoughts, I'm always curious about what my readers think!


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